Kathryn "Tubby" Johnston Massar (néeJohnston) was the first woman to play in a
Little League Baseball game, which happened in 1950. She joined disguised as a boy and using the name Tubby Johnston, but later was known to be a girl and was still allowed to play.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] Johnston was from Corning, New York, and played first base for the King's Dairy team.[10]
Tubby's Rule
When the season had ended, a Little League meeting was held. It was decided that girls would be banned from Little League Baseball, which was known as Tubby's Rule. Later, in 1974, due to a lawsuit brought on behalf of
Maria Pepe by the
National Organization for Women, the
New Jersey Superior Court decided that Little League Baseball must allow girls to play.[11][12] In the final week of December of that year, President
Gerald Ford signed a bill that opened Little League Baseball to girls.[13][14]